os rácios económico

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Os Rcios Econmico-Financeiros so os que constam na tabela da pgina anterior. importante ler tambm a pgina do Significado e Interpretao dos Dados EconmicoFinanceiros, ela tambm explica o significado de muitos destes rcios. A Solvabilidade, Endividamento e Autonomia Financeira contm, basicamente, a mesma informao: Solvabilidade (SOLV) Endividamento (ENDIV) Autonomia Financeira (AF) = = Situao Lquida = Passivo Situao Lquida / / / Passivo Activo Activo

Como interpretar a Autonomia Financeira ou a Solvabilidade? Muito baixas significa que h maior perigo de falncia em geral. No entanto isto depende muito de sector para sector. Por exemplo, os bancos tm tradicionalmente uma AF baixa por a maior parte do Activo ser constituda pelos depsitos dos clientes. Um bom uso para a AF ter muito cuidado com empresas com AF baixa que acabaram de descer muito em Bolsa. Se a empresa estiver muito endividada em relao aos seus capitais (AF baixa) os potenciais efeitos de uma crise so piores, pelo que dever ter o mximo cuidado, mesmo que a cotao j tenha descido muito. Uma AF abaixo de 0.20 envolve riscos acrescidos. Uma AF acima de 0.50 indica grande solidez de uma empresa, risco baixo. Estrutura do Endividamento = Passivo de Curto Prazo / Passivo Peso do Endividamento de Longo Prazo = Passivo de Mdio e Longo Prazo / Activo Uma Estrutura do Endividamento alta indica mais riscos de dificuldades de tesouraria para a empresa, j que uma parte maior do passivo tem um prazo mais curto para ser pago. Tome cuidado com empresas que estejam a meio de uma crise e tenham um valor elevado deste indicador. Liquidez Geral = Activo Circulante / Passivo de Curto Prazo Uma Liquidez Geral alta (de preferncia maior que 1) indica que os fundos facilmente utilizveis pela empresa (cash, contas bancrias, ttulos, e outros activos circulantes) cobrem as dvidas de curto prazo, pelo que h poucos riscos de problemas de tesouraria srios. Veja tambm o Fundo de Maneio (pgina dos Dados Econmico-Financeiros), um indicador que gira em torno do mesmo conceito. Rentabilidade dos Capitais Prprios (RCP) = Lucro / Situao Lquida anterior. Rentabilidade das Vendas (RV) = Lucro / Rentabilidade Operacional das Vendas (ROV) = Resultados Operacionais / Rentabilidade do Activo (RAC) = Lucro / do ano Vendas Vendas Activo

Destes rcios, a RCP e a ROV so as mais importantes. A RCP merece um destaque especial: Os Resultados Lquidos ou Lucro Lquido so aquilo que uma empresa ganha num ano, depois de descontar amortizaes de equipamento, pagar despesas (ordenados, juros de dvidas, etc.) e pagar o imposto sobre os resultados. Quanto maior o seu valor, mais se justificar uma capitalizao alta da empresa. Os lucros anuais servem, em parte, para pagar Dividendos aos accionistas, e em parte para reinvestir. A parte que no distribuda incrementa, em cada ano, a Situao Lquida ou Capitais Prprios

da empresa. Est a pensar investir num negcio? Se sim, essa deciso s valer a pena se ganhar nesse negcio uma percentagem de lucro anual sobre os capitais investidos superior ao que obteria com aplicaes sem risco (obrigaes do tesouro). Por isso, uma empresa dever apresentar um rcio entre lucros e situao lquida (a tal RCP Rentabilidade dos Capitais Prprios, ou ROE - Return on Equity). Prefira empresas cuja RCP superior taxa de juro das obrigaes do tesouro. Prefira empresas em que esta boa situao se tenha mantido durante vrios anos. Veja tambm o PBV - Price Book Value e o PER - Price Earnings Ratio, nos Rcios Econmico Bolsistas. Tome em ateno tambm o rcio entre os Resultados Operacionais e as Vendas (a ROV - Rentabilidade Operacional das Vendas ou Margem Operacional). melhor que esta esteja a aumentar de ano para ano, ainda que ligeiramente pois, se diminuir, isso significa que a empresa est a enfrentar concorrncia que a obriga a descer os preos de venda dos seus produtos ou que as matrias primas ou de consumo utilizadas na produo subiram de preo. Prefira que esta ROV seja entre 5% e 20%, pois menos indica perigo de a margem se tornar negativa e mais poder no ser sustentvel. Payout Rate = Dividendos distribudos / Lucros

No faa muito caso da Payout Rate, pois empresas que pagam a maior parte do lucro para dividendos so, muito provavelmente, empresas em que a prpria administrao j no acredita que valha a pena reinvestir os lucros no negcio. Isso est associado, geralmente, a crescimentos esperados baixos. Por vezes, so as empresas que pagam menores parcelas de lucro para dividendos que mais sobem, por se estimar altos crescimentos de lucros. Veja tambm o Dividend Yield nos Rcios EconmicoBolsistas. Margem EBITDA = EBITDA / Vendas

Esta margem indica grosso modo a capacidade das Vendas gerarem Cash Flow. Por vezes, nas projeces financeiras, determinam-se as vendas numa data futura, aplica-se a Margem EBITDA considerada tpica do sector em questo e obtm-se assim o EBITDA (Cash-Flow Operacional), o que permite uma estimativa dos lucros nessa data futura. O Imposto sobre o Lucro (IRC) em percentagem que as empresas pagam realmente acaba por ficar bastante aqum do que deviam pagar, pois servem-se de subterfgios como operaes nas zonas offshore. No entanto o feitio pode virar-se contra o feiticeiro pois, se o enquadramento fiscal apertar, empresas que conseguiam pagar apenas 7 a 10% sabe-se l como ( o caso dos grandes bancos portugueses actualmente), podero ter que pagar bem mais, o que diminuir o lucro lquido e, consequentemente, o valor das aces. O Perodo de Recuperao da Dvida tem um "a" a seguir que significa "anos". Representa o Passivo / Cash-Flow, ou seja, o nmero de anos que a empresa levaria a liquidar a sua dvida servindo-se para isso do dinheiro libertado (Cash-Flow) pela sua actividade. Prefira valores baixos, de 2.5 a 4 anos. Seguem-se alguns rcios que mais no so do que os correspondentes Dados Econmico-Financeiros a dividir pelo Nmero de Aces: Dividendo por Aco,

Lucro por Aco, etc. Veja, sobre eles, a pgina do Significado dos Dados Econmico Financeiros. Um "E" significa que esto em euros, um "c" em contos. Ao fazer quaisquer comparaes entre colunas (anos) tenha em conta que o Nmero de Aces pode ter mudado de um ano para outro (devido a aumento de capital, split, etc.) o que invalidar as ditas comparaes. O Valor Contabilstico por Aco ou Book Value a Situao Lquida a dividir pelo nmero de aces. Trata-se de um indicador importante. Sobretudo importante o rcio entre cotao e Book Value, ou PBV Price Book-Value Ratio. Veja o Significado e Interpretao dos Rcios Econmico-Bolsistas. Finalmente aparecem rcios por trabalhador, correspondentes a dados econmicos a dividir pelo nmero de trabalhadores. O mais importante a Produtividade, ou Valor Acrescentado Bruto / Nmero de Trabalhadores. Convm que esteja a crescer ao longo dos anos. Interessante comparar este rcio entre vrias empresas do mesmo sector. Empresas com maior produtividade tero uma grande vantagem competitiva a prazo.

RCIOS ECONMICO-FINANCEIROS A anlise de rcios ou indicadores uma das tcnicas mais utilizadas em anlise financeira. Os rcios so uma razo ou quociente entre duas grandezas e permitem: - Quantificar factos / caractersticas da empresa; - Apontar indcios / detectar anomalias; - Fazer comparaes no tempo e no espao. Principais rcios financeiros Solvabilidade total expressa a capacidade da empresa para satisfazer os compromissos com terceiros, medida que se vo vencendo.

Um valor superior a 1, significa que o valor do patrimnio suficiente para cobrir todas as dvidas da empresa. Um valor inferior a 1, significa que a empresa est impossibilitada de satisfazer todos os seus compromissos com meios prprios. Autonomia financeira - expressa a participao do capital prprio no financiamento da

empresa.

Um valor inferior a 1/3, significa uma excessiva dependncia de capitais alheios. Um valor maior ou igual a 1/3, representa um bom grau de autonomia financeira. Dependncia financeira - expressa a participao dos capitais alheios no

financiamento da empresa, ou seja, o nvel de endividamento.

Rcio de autonomia + Rcio de dependncia = 1 Liquidez geral - expressa a capacidade da empresa satisfazer as suas obrigaes a curto

prazo com os activos circulantes. Um valor superior a 1, significa que a empresa pode utilizar activos lquidos para pagar as dvidas a curto prazo. Um valor inferior a 1, significa que a empresa tem dificuldades de tesouraria. Liquidez reduzida - expressa a capacidade da empresa satisfazer as suas dvidas a curto prazo com os activos circulantes, sem contar com as existncias.

Consideram-se bons os valores entre 0,9 e 1,1. Se houver uma diferena muito grande entre a liquidez geral e a liquidez reduzida, significa que existem stocks "mortos", com elevados custos para a empresa. Liquidez imediata -expressa a capacidade da empresa satisfazer as suas dvidas a curto prazo, apenas com as disponibilidades.

Um valor superior a 0,9 poder ser demasiado elevado e significar uma m aplicao dos fundos de tesouraria. Principais rcios econmicos Rendibilidade do capital prprio - relaciona o lucro obtido num determinado exerccio com o capital prprio da empresa.

Permite ao accionista avaliar a taxa de retorno do capital que investiu, podendo compar-la com outras remuneraes oferecidas no mercado de capitais. Rendibilidade do activo total - relaciona o lucro obtido num determinado exerccio

com o activo total da empresa. Mostra o lucro obtido pela empresa por cada unidade monetria investida, ou seja, a rendibilidade do investimento realizado.

Rendibilidade das vendas - relaciona o lucro obtido num determinado exerccio com o valor das vendas da empresa.

Mostra o lucro obtido pela empresa por cada unidade monetria de vendas. Rotao do activo total - relaciona o valor das vendas com o activo total da empresa.

Mede o grau de eficcia na utilizao dos activos. Equao fundamental da rendibilidade

Outros rcios econmicos

In finance, a hedge is a position established in one market in an attempt to offset exposure to price changes or fluctuations in some opposite position with the goal of minimizing one's exposure to unwanted risk. There are many specific financial vehicles to accomplish this including insurance policies, forward contracts, swaps, options, many types of over-the-counter and derivative products, and perhaps most popularly, futures contracts. Public futures markets were established in the 19th century to allow transparent, standardized, and efficient hedging of agricultural commodity prices; they have since expanded to include futures contracts for hedging the values of energy, precious metals, foreign currency, and interest rate fluctuations.

Etymology Hedging is the practice of taking a position in one market to offset and balance against the risk adopted by assuming a position in a contrary or opposing market.The word hedge is from Old English hecg, originally any fence, living or artificial. The use of the word as a verb in the sense of "dodge, evade" is first recorded 1590s; that of insure oneself against loss, as in a bet, is from 1670s. As a finance vehicle you divide your money as with a fence, and bet some of it on opposite moves of the market so that if the undesirable result occurs, then you minimize your loss. .[1] [edit] Examples [edit] Hedging an agricultural commodity price A typical hedger might be a commercial farmer. The market values of wheat and other crops fluctuate constantly as supply and demand for them vary, with occasional large moves in either direction. Based on current prices and forecast levels at harvest time, the farmer might decide that planting wheat is a good idea one season, but the forecast prices are only that forecasts. Once the farmer plants wheat, he is committed to it for an entire growing season. If the actual price of wheat rises greatly between planting and harvest, the farmer stands to make a lot of unexpected money, but if the actual price drops by harvest time, he could be ruined. If the farmer sells a number of wheat futures contracts equivalent to his crop size at planting time, he effectively locks in the price of wheat at that time: the contract is an agreement to deliver a certain number of bushels of wheat to a specified place on a certain date in the future for a certain fixed price. The farmer has hedged his exposure to wheat prices; he no longer cares whether the current price rises or falls, because he is guaranteed a price by the contract. He no longer needs to worry about being ruined by a low wheat price at harvest time, but he also gives up the chance at making extra money from a high wheat price at harvest times. [edit] Hedging a stock price A stock trader believes that the stock price of Company A will rise over the next month, due to the company's new and efficient method of producing widgets. He wants to buy Company A shares to profit from their expected price increase. But Company A is part of the highly volatile widget industry. If the trader simply bought the shares based on his belief that the Company A shares were underpriced, the trade would be a speculation. Since the trader is interested in the company, rather than the industry, he wants to hedge out the industry risk by short selling an equal value (number of shares price) of the shares of Company A's direct competitor, Company B. The first day the trader's portfolio is:

Long 1,000 shares of Company A at $1 each Short 500 shares of Company B at $2 each

(Notice that the trader has sold short the same value of shares) If the trader was able to short sell an asset whose price had a mathematically defined relation with Company A's stock price (for example a call option on Company A shares), the trade might be essentially riskless. But in this case, the risk is lessened but not removed. On the second day, a favorable news story about the widgets industry is published and the value of all widgets stock goes up. Company A, however, because it is a stronger company, increases by 10%, while Company B increases by just 5%:

Long 1,000 shares of Company A at $1.10 each: $100 gain Short 500 shares of Company B at $2.10 each: $50 loss

(In a short position, the investor loses money when the price goes up.) The trader might regret the hedge on day two, since it reduced the profits on the Company A position. But on the third day, an unfavorable news story is published about the health effects of widgets, and all widgets stocks crash: 50% is wiped off the value of the widgets industry in the course of a few hours. Nevertheless, since Company A is the better company, it suffers less than Company B: Value of long position (Company A):

Day 1: $1,000 Day 2: $1,100 Day 3: $550 => ($1,000 $550) = $450 loss

Value of short position (Company B):

Day 1: $1,000 Day 2: $1,050 Day 3: $525 => ($1,000 $525) = $475 profit

Without the hedge, the trader would have lost $450 (or $900 if the trader took the $1,000 he has used in short selling Company B's shares to buy Company A's shares as well). But the hedge the short sale of Company B gives a profit of $475, for a net profit of $25 during a dramatic market collapse. [edit] Hedging fuel consumption Main article: Fuel hedging Airlines use futures contracts and derivatives to hedge their exposure to the price of jet fuel. They know that they must purchase jet fuel for as long as they want to stay in business, and fuel prices are notoriously volatile. By using crude oil futures contracts to hedge their fuel requirements (and engaging in similar but more complex derivatives transactions), Southwest Airlines was able to save a large amount of money when buying fuel as compared to rival airlines when fuel prices in the U.S. rose dramatically after the 2003 Iraq war and Hurricane Katrina.

[edit] Types of hedging The stock example above is a "classic" sort of hedge, known in the industry as a pairs trade due to the trading on a pair of related securities. As investors became more sophisticated, along with the mathematical tools used to calculate values (known as models), the types of hedges have increased greatly. [edit] Hedging strategies Examples of hedging include:

Forward exchange contract for currencies Currency future contracts Money Market Operations for currencies Forward Exchange Contract for interest (FRA) Money Market Operations for interest Future contracts for interest

This is a list of hedging strategies, grouped by category. [edit] Financial derivatives such as call and put options

Risk reversal: Simultaneously buying a call option and buying a put option. This has the effect of simulating being long a stock or commodity position. Delta neutral: This is a market neutral position that allows a portfolio to maintain a positive cash flow by dynamically re-hedging to maintain a market neutral position. This is also a type of market neutral strategy.

[edit] Natural hedges Many hedges do not involve exotic financial instruments or derivatives such as the married put. A natural hedge is an investment that reduces the undesired risk by matching cash flows (i.e. revenues and expenses). For example, an exporter to the United States faces a risk of changes in the value of the U.S. dollar and chooses to open a production facility in that market to match its expected sales revenue to its cost structure. Another example is a company that opens a subsidiary in another country and borrows in the foreign currency to finance its operations, even though the foreign interest rate may be more expensive than in its home country: by matching the debt payments to expected revenues in the foreign currency, the parent company has reduced its foreign currency exposure. Similarly, an oil producer may expect to receive its revenues in U.S. dollars, but faces costs in a different currency; it would be applying a natural hedge if it agreed to, for example, pay bonuses to employees in U.S. dollars. One common means of hedging against risk is the purchase of insurance to protect against financial loss due to accidental property damage or loss, personal injury, or loss of life.

[edit] Categories of hedgeable risk There are varying types of risk that can be protected against with a hedge. Those types of risks include:

Commodity risk: the risk that arises from potential movements in the value of commodity contracts, which include agricultural products, metals, and energy products.[2] Credit risk: the risk that money owing will not be paid by an obligor. Since credit risk is the natural business of banks, but an unwanted risk for commercial traders, an early market developed between banks and traders that involved selling obligations at a discounted rate. Currency risk (also known as Foreign Exchange Risk hedging) is used both by financial investors to deflect the risks they encounter when investing abroad and by non-financial actors in the global economy for whom multi-currency activities are a necessary evil rather than a desired state of exposure. Interest rate risk: the risk that the relative value of an interest-bearing liability, such as a loan or a bond, will worsen due to an interest rate increase. Interest rate risks can be hedged using fixed-income instruments or interest rate swaps. Equity risk: the risk that one's investments will depreciate because of stock market dynamics causing one to lose money. Volatility risk: is the threat that an exchange rate movement poses to an investor's portfolio in a foreign currency. Volumetric risk: the risk that a customer demands more or less of a product than expected.

[edit] Hedging equity and equity futures Equity in a portfolio can be hedged by taking an opposite position in futures. To protect your stock picking against systematic market risk, futures are shorted when equity is purchased, or long futures when stock is shorted. One way to hedge is the market neutral approach. In this approach, an equivalent dollar amount in the stock trade is taken in futures for example, by buying 10,000 GBP worth of Vodafone and shorting 10,000 worth of FTSE futures. Another way to hedge is the beta neutral. Beta is the historical correlation between a stock and an index. If the beta of a Vodafone stock is 2, then for a 10,000 GBP long position in Vodafone an investor would hedge with a 20,000 GBP equivalent short position in the FTSE futures (the index in which Vodafone trades). Futures contracts and forward contracts are means of hedging against the risk of adverse market movements. These originally developed out of commodity markets in the 19th

century, but over the last fifty years a large global market developed in products to hedge financial market risk. [edit] Futures hedging Investors who primarily trade in futures may hedge their futures against synthetic futures. A synthetic in this case is a synthetic future comprising a call and a put position. Long synthetic futures means long call and short put at the same expiry price. To hedge against a long futures trade a short position in synthetics can be established, and vice versa. Stack hedging is a strategy which involves buying various futures contracts that are concentrated in nearby delivery months to increase the liquidity position. It is generally used by investors to ensure the surety of their earnings for a longer period of time. [edit] Contract for difference Main article: Contract for difference A contract for difference (CFD) is a two-way hedge or swap contract that allows the seller and purchaser to fix the price of a volatile commodity. Consider a deal between an electricity producer and an electricity retailer, both of whom trade through an electricity market pool. If the producer and the retailer agree to a strike price of $50 per MWh, for 1 MWh in a trading period, and if the actual pool price is $70, then the producer gets $70 from the pool but has to rebate $20 (the "difference" between the strike price and the pool price) to the retailer. Conversely, the retailer pays the difference to the producer if the pool price is lower than the agreed upon contractual strike price. In effect, the pool volatility is nullified and the parties pay and receive $50 per MWh. However, the party who pays the difference is "out of the money" because without the hedge they would have received the benefit of the pool price. [edit] Related concepts

Forwards: A contracted agreement specifying an amount of currency to be delivered, at an exchange rate decided on the date of contract. Forward Rate Agreement (FRA): A contract agreement specifying an interest rate amount to be settled at a pre-determined interest rate on the date of the contract. Currency option: A contract that gives the owner the right, but not the obligation, to take (call option) or deliver (put option) a specified amount of currency, at an exchange rate decided at the date of purchase. Non-Deliverable Forwards (NDF): A strictly risk-transfer financial product similar to a Forward Rate Agreement, but used only where monetary policy restrictions on the currency in question limit the free flow and conversion of capital. As the name suggests, NDFs are not delivered but settled in a reference currency, usually USD or EUR, where the parties exchange the gain or loss that the NDF instrument yields, and if the buyer of the controlled currency truly needs that hard currency, he can take the reference payout and go to the government in question and convert the USD or EUR payout. The insurance effect is the same; it's just that the supply of insured currency is restricted and controlled by government. See Capital Control.

Interest rate parity and Covered interest arbitrage: The simple concept that two similar investments in two different currencies ought to yield the same return. If the two similar investments are not at face value offering the same interest rate return, the difference should conceptually be made up by changes in the exchange rate over the life of the investment. IRP basically provides the math to calculate a projected or implied forward rate of exchange. This calculated rate is not and cannot be considered a prediction or forecast, but rather is the arbitragefree calculation for what the exchange rate is implied to be in order for it to be impossible to make a free profit by converting money to one currency, investing it for a period, then converting back and making more money than if a person had invested in the same opportunity in the original currency. Hedge fund: A fund which may engage in hedged transactions or hedged investment strategies.

A Beginner's Guide To Hedging

Hedging uses derivatives to reduce the financial impact of a negative event. Hedging doesnt generate profits, it reduces losses. Traders use this to reduce the impact of short-term market fluctuations.

Although it sounds like your neighbor's hobby who's obsessed with his topiary garden full of tall bushes shaped like giraffes and dinosaurs, hedging is a practice every investor should know about. There is no arguing that portfolio protection is often just as important as portfolio appreciation. Like your neighbor's obsession, however, hedging is talked about more than it is explained, making it seem as though it belongs only to the most esoteric financial realms. Well, even if you are a beginner, you can learn what hedging is, how it works and what hedging techniques investors and companies use to protect themselves. What Is Hedging? The best way to understand hedging is to think of it as insurance. When people decide to hedge, they are insuring themselves against a negative event. This doesn't prevent a negative event from happening, but if it does happen and you're properly hedged, the impact of the event is reduced. So, hedging occurs almost everywhere, and we see it everyday. For example, if you buy house insurance, you are hedging yourself against fires, break-ins or other unforeseen disasters. Portfolio managers, individual investors and corporations use hedging techniques to reduce their exposure to various risks. In financial markets, however, hedging becomes more complicated than simply paying an insurance company a fee every year. Hedging against investment risk means strategically using instruments in the market to offset the risk of any adverse price movements. In other words, investors hedge one investment by making another.

Technically, to hedge you would invest in two securities with negative correlations. Of course, nothing in this world is free, so you still have to pay for this type of insurance in one form or another. Although some of us may fantasize about a world where profit potentials are limitless but also risk free, hedging can't help us escape the hard reality of the risk-return tradeoff. A reduction in risk will always mean a reduction in potential profits. So, hedging, for the most part, is a technique not by which you will make money but by which you can reduce potential loss. If the investment you are hedging against makes money, you will have typically reduced the profit that you could have made, and if the investment loses money, your hedge, if successful, will reduce that loss. How Do Investors Hedge? Hedging techniques generally involve the use of complicated financial instruments known as derivatives, the two most common of which are options and futures. We're not going to get into the nitty-gritty of describing how these instruments work, but for now just keep in mind that with these instruments you can develop trading strategies where a loss in one investment is offset by a gain in a derivative. Let's see how this works with an example. Say you own shares of Cory's Tequila Corporation (Ticker: CTC). Although you believe in this company for the long run, you are a little worried about some short-term losses in the tequila industry. To protect yourself from a fall in CTC you can buy a put option (a derivative) on the company, which gives you the right to sell CTC at a specific price (strike price). This strategy is known as a married put. If your stock price tumbles below the strike price, these losses will be offset by gains in the put option. (For more information, see this article on married puts or this options basics tutorial.) The other classic hedging example involves a company that depends on a certain commodity. Let's say Cory's Tequila Corporation is worried about the volatility in the price of agave, the plant used to make tequila. The company would be in deep trouble if the price of agave were to skyrocket, which would severelyeat into profit margins. To protect (hedge) against the uncertainty of agave prices, CTC can enter into a futures contract (or its less regulated cousin, the forward contract), which allows the company to buy the agave at a specific price at a set date in the future. Now CTC can budget without worrying about the fluctuating commodity. If the agave skyrockets above that price specified by the futures contract, the hedge will have paid off because CTC will save money by paying the lower price. However, if the price goes down, CTC is still obligated to pay the price in the contract and actually would have been better off not hedging. Keep in mind that because there are so many different types of options and futures contracts an investor can hedge against nearly anything, whether a stock, commodity price, interest rate and currency - investors can even hedge against the weather. The Downside Every hedge has a cost, so before you decide to use hedging, you must ask yourself if

the benefits received from it justify the expense. Remember, the goal of hedging isn't to make money but to protect from losses. The cost of the hedge - whether it is the cost of an option or lost profits from being on the wrong side of a futures contract - cannot be avoided. This is the price you have to pay to avoid uncertainty. We've been comparing hedging versus insurance, but we should emphasize that insurance is far more precise than hedging. With insurance, you are completely compensated for your loss (usually minus a deductible). Hedging a portfolio isn't a perfect science and things can go wrong. Although risk managers are always aiming for the perfect hedge, it is difficult to achieve in practice. What Hedging Means to You The majority of investors will never trade a derivative contract in their life. In fact most buy-and-hold investors ignore short-term fluctuation altogether. For these investors there is little point in engaging in hedging because they let their investments grow with the overall market. So why learn about hedging? Even if you never hedge for your own portfolio you should understand how it works because many big companies and investment funds will hedge in some form. Oil companies, for example, might hedge against the price of oil while an international mutual fund might hedge against fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. An understanding of hedging will help you to comprehend and analyze these investments. Conclusion Risk is an essential yet precarious element of investing. Regardless of what kind of investor one aims to be, having a basic knowledge of hedging strategies will lead to better awareness of how investors and companies work to protect themselves. Whether or not you decide to start practicing the intricate uses of derivatives, learning about how hedging works will help advance your understanding of the market, which will always help you be a better investor.

What Does Hedge Mean? Making an investment to reduce the risk of adverse price movements in an asset. Normally, a hedge consists of taking an offsetting position in a related security, such as a futures contract.

Investopedia explains Hedge An example of a hedge would be if you owned a stock, then sold a futures contract stating that you will sell your stock at a set price, therefore avoiding market fluctuations. Investors use this strategy when they are unsure of what the market will do. A perfect hedge reduces your risk to nothing (except for the cost of the hedge).

hedging, method of reducing the risk of loss caused by price fluctuation. It consists of the purchase or sale of equal quantities of the same or very similar commodities, approximately simultaneously, in two different markets with the expectation that a future change in price in one market will be offset by an opposite change in the other market. One example is that of a grain-elevator operator who buys wheat in the country and at the same time sells a futures contract for the same quantity of wheat. When his wheat is delivered later to the terminal market or to the processor in a normal market, he buys back his futures contract. Any change of price that occurred during the interval should have been cancelled out by mutually compensatory movements in his cash and futures holdings. If the grain price has dropped, he can buy back his futures contract at less than he sold it for; his profit from doing so will be offset by his loss on the grain. The hedger thus hopes to protect himself against loss resulting from price changes by transferring the risk to a speculator who relies upon his skill in forecasting price movements. Selling futures is called a short hedge; buying futures is called a long hedge. Hedging is also common in the securities and foreign- exchange markets.

Synopsis of Hedge Fund Strategies It is important to understand the differences between the various hedge fund strategies because all hedge funds are not the same -- investment returns, volatility, and risk vary enormously among the different hedge fund strategies. Some strategies which are not correlated to equity markets are able to deliver consistent returns with extremely low risk of loss, while others may be as or more volatile than mutual funds. A successful fund of funds recognizes these differences and blends various strategies and asset classes together to create more stable long-term investment returns than any of the individual funds.

Key Characteristics of Hedge Funds

Many, but not all, hedge fund strategies tend to hedge against downturns in the markets being traded. Hedge funds are flexible in their investment options (can use short selling, leverage, derivatives such as puts, calls, options, futures, etc.).

Hedge funds benefit by heavily weighting hedge fund managers remuneration towards performance incentives, thus attracting the best brains in the investment business.

Facts About the Hedge Fund Industry

Estimated to be a trillion dollar industry, with about 8350 active hedge funds. Includes a variety of investment strategies, some of which use leverage and derivatives while others are more conservative and employ little or no leverage. Many hedge fund strategies seek to reduce market risk specifically by shorting equities or derivatives. Most hedge funds are highly specialized, relying on the specific expertise of the manager or management team. Performance of many hedge fund strategies, particularly relative value strategies, is not dependent on the direction of the bond or equity markets -unlike conventional equity or mutual funds (unit trusts), which are generally 100% exposed to market risk. Many hedge fund strategies, particularly arbitrage strategies, are limited as to how much capital they can successfully employ before returns diminish. As a result, many successful hedge fund managers limit the amount of capital they will accept. Hedge fund managers are generally highly professional, disciplined and diligent. Their returns over a sustained period of time have outperformed standard equity and bond indexes with less volatility and less risk of loss than equities. Beyond the averages, there are some truly outstanding performers. Investing in hedge funds tends to be favored by more sophisticated investors, including many Swiss and other private banks, who have lived through, and understand the consequences of, major stock market corrections. Many endowments and pension funds allocate assets to hedge funds.

Popular Misconception The popular misconception is that all hedge funds are volatile -- that they all use global macro strategies and place large directional bets on stocks, currencies, bonds, commodities, and gold, while using lots of leverage. In reality, less than 5% of hedge funds are global macro funds like Quantum, Tiger, and Strome. Most hedge funds use derivatives only for hedging or dont use derivatives at all, and many use no leverage.

Hedge Fund Strategies The predictability of future results show a strong correlation with the volatility of each strategy. Future performance of strategies with high volatility is far less predictable than future performance from strategies experiencing low or moderate volatility.

Aggressive Growth: Invests in equities expected to experience acceleration in growth of earnings per share. Generally high P/E ratios, low or no dividends; often smaller and micro cap stocks which are expected to experience rapid growth. Includes sector specialist funds such as technology, banking, or biotechnology. Hedges by shorting equities where earnings disappointment is expected or by shorting stock indexes. Tends to be "long-biased." Expected Volatility: High Distressed Securities: Buys equity, debt, or trade claims at deep discounts of companies in or facing bankruptcy or reorganization. Profits from the markets lack of understanding of the true value of the deeply discounted securities and because the majority of institutional investors cannot own below investment grade securities. (This selling pressure creates the deep discount.) Results generally not dependent on the direction of the markets. Expected Volatility: Low - Moderate Emerging Markets: Invests in equity or debt of emerging (less mature) markets which tend to have higher inflation and volatile growth. Short selling is not permitted in many emerging markets, and, therefore, effective hedging is often not available, although Brady debt can be partially hedged via U.S. Treasury futures and currency markets. Expected Volatility: Very High Fund of Funds: Mixes and matches hedge funds and other pooled investment vehicles. This blending of different strategies and asset classes aims to provide a more stable long-term investment return than any of the individual funds. Returns, risk, and volatility can be controlled by the mix of underlying strategies and funds. Capital preservation is generally an important consideration. Volatility depends on the mix and ratio of strategies employed. Expected Volatility: Low - Moderate Income: Invests with primary focus on yield or current income rather than solely on capital gains. May utilize leverage to buy bonds and sometimes fixed income derivatives in order to profit from principal appreciation and interest income. Expected Volatility: Low Macro: Aims to profit from changes in global economies, typically brought about by shifts in government policy which impact interest rates, in turn affecting currency, stock, and bond markets. Participates in all major markets -equities, bonds, currencies and commodities -- though not always at the same time. Uses leverage and derivatives to accentuate the impact of market moves. Utilizes hedging, but leveraged directional bets tend to make the largest impact on performance. Expected Volatility: Very High

Market Neutral - Arbitrage: Attempts to hedge out most market risk by taking offsetting positions, often in different securities of the same issuer. For example, can be long convertible bonds and short the underlying issuers equity. May also use futures to hedge out interest rate risk. Focuses on obtaining returns with low or no correlation to both the equity and bond markets. These relative value strategies include fixed income arbitrage, mortgage backed securities, capital structure arbitrage, and closed-end fund arbitrage. Expected Volatility: Low Market Neutral - Securities Hedging: Invests equally in long and short equity portfolios generally in the same sectors of the market. Market risk is greatly reduced, but effective stock analysis and stock picking is essential to obtaining meaningful results. Leverage may be used to enhance returns. Usually low or no correlation to the market. Sometimes uses market index futures to hedge out systematic (market) risk. Relative benchmark index usually T-bills. Expected Volatility: Low Market Timing: Allocates assets among different asset classes depending on the managers view of the economic or market outlook. Portfolio emphasis may swing widely between asset classes. Unpredictability of market movements and the difficulty of timing entry and exit from markets adds to the volatility of this strategy. Expected Volatility: High Opportunistic: Investment theme changes from strategy to strategy as opportunities arise to profit from events such as IPOs, sudden price changes often caused by an interim earnings disappointment, hostile bids, and other event-driven opportunities. May utilize several of these investing styles at a given time and is not restricted to any particular investment approach or asset class. Expected Volatility: Variable Multi Strategy: Investment approach is diversified by employing various strategies simultaneously to realize short- and long-term gains. Other strategies may include systems trading such as trend following and various diversified technical strategies. This style of investing allows the manager to overweight or underweight different strategies to best capitalize on current investment opportunities. Expected Volatility: Variable Short Selling: Sells securities short in anticipation of being able to rebuy them at a future date at a lower price due to the managers assessment of the overvaluation of the securities, or the market, or in anticipation of earnings disappointments often due to accounting irregularities, new competition, change of management, etc. Often used as a hedge to offset long-only portfolios and by those who feel the market is approaching a bearish cycle. High risk. Expected Volatility: Very High Special Situations: Invests in event-driven situations such as mergers, hostile takeovers, reorganizations, or leveraged buy outs. May involve simultaneous purchase of stock in companies being acquired, and the sale of stock in its acquirer, hoping to profit from the spread between the current market price and the ultimate purchase price of the company. May also utilize derivatives to leverage returns and to hedge out interest rate and/or market risk. Results generally not dependent on direction of market. Expected Volatility: Moderate

Value: Invests in securities perceived to be selling at deep discounts to their intrinsic or potential worth. Such securities may be out of favour or underfollowed by analysts. Long-term holding, patience, and strong discipline are often required until the ultimate value is recognized by the market. Expected Volatility: Low - Moderate

Patrimnio de marca ou goodwill o conjunto de elementos no materiais ligados ao desenvolvimento de um negcio, pontos que valorizam a reputao de uma empresa. Embora o termo venha sendo utilizado desde o sculo XVI, ainda controverso. O termo foi utilizado pela primeira vez na corte da Inglaterra, em decises de disputa por terras, onde foi considerado na valorizao do terreno um valor adicional pela sua localizao. No entanto, o primeiro trabalho sistematizado relacionado foi produzido por Francis More, publicado em 1891 pela revista The accountant na Esccia, onde foi abordada a questo da mensurao do goodwill. (MARTINS, 1973). [editar] Definio O conceito de goodwill ainda motivo de discusso pela sua subjetividade e dificuldade de mensurao. Segundo Hendriksen (1999) goodwill um ativo intangvel, assim como contas a receber, despesas antecipadas, aplicaes financeiras e outras, no entanto estas contas so facilmente identificadas, ao contrrio do goodwill. Segundo Pinho (1997), o goodwill definido como sendo fundo de comrcio; bens intangveis, tais como o bom relacionamento com os clientes, moral elevado dos empregados, bom conceito nos meios empresariais, boa localizao. Entretanto, o conceito de goodwill vai alm do bom relacionamento comercial. O goodwill pode ser definido como um lucro anormal, alm do esperado, sendo que a dificuldade reside na mensurao do valor atual dos benefcios futuros esperados. Corroborando Martins (1973), este conceito aproxima-se do conceito econmico de ativo, no entanto o lucro contbil toma por base o custo como base de valor, que pela legislao atual no corrigido pela variao do poder aquisitivo da moeda. No entanto uma forma de calcular o Valor de uma empresa, com seus ativos intangiveis. H dois tipos de Goodwill: o Objetivo que a diferena positiva entre o valor de mercado lquido dos ativos e passivos e o custo de aquisio da parte lquida dos ativos e passivos pelo investidor e o Subjetivo que a diferena entre o valor presente dos fluxos futuros de caixa menos o valor de mercado dos ativos e passivos. Dessa forma o Goodwill no o mesmo que capital intelectual e muito menos a expresso legal muito usada no brasil Fundo de Comrcio (porque essa expresso tambm inclu alguns ativos tangveis)